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Wang Yuan

Type Figure Region China Time c. 1077–1129 Also known as Jidao

Wang Yuan (c. 1077–1129), style name Jidao, from Xizhou, a general of the late Northern and early Southern Song, killed by Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan i…

Timeline

  1. 1126–1127Jizhou, Bianjing · JiningIn the first year of Jingkang, Wang Yuan served as a vanguard under Fan Ne in the campaign to save the sovereign, then joined the household of the Prince of Kang. When Zhang Bangchang usurped the throne, Wang Yuan led three thousand men to guard the ancestral temples, and later escorted Prince Kang Zhao Gou, becoming a general the Gaozong relied upon after his accession.
  2. 1128–1129Lin'an (Qiantang) · HangzhouWhen the Jin army attacked Yangzhou, the ministers proposed fleeing to Zhenjiang, but only Wang Yuan strongly advocated retreating to defend Qiantang, taking the great rivers as a defense. The Gaozong followed his advice and established the capital at Lin'an. Wang Yuan commanded the Imperial Guard, and together with the eunuch Kang Lu wielded power, accumulating wealth, which aroused the resentment of veteran generals such as Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan.
  3. 1129Lin'an · HangzhouOn the twenty-sixth day of the third month of the third year of Jianyan, Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan set an ambush along Wang Yuan's route to court, dragged him from his horse, beat and beheaded him, and also killed the eunuch Kang Lu, triggering the Miao-Liu Mutiny. Wang Yuan was fifty-three years old; his posthumous name was Xiangmin.

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